Sample bid pack: a real pack for a live UK IT tender

This is a complete bid pack, prepared on 14 November 2026 for a live public tender: a £140,000 managed detection and response service for a Cambridge housing association. It is a sample, not client work. The compliance matrix has 86 rows from 6 source documents. Read it here or download the files.

Tender: Managed Detection and Response (MDR) Service
Notice: 108226-2026
Value: £140,000 excluding VAT
Deadline: 9 December 2026

Generated by AI and tested by automated checks. We have no connection with the buyer. If you are bidding for this tender, work from the buyer's current documents: Find a Tender notice 108226-2026.

Compliance matrix

86 rows: 62 mandatory, 7 scored and 17 for information. Each row quotes the buyer and gives the document and page. The workbook also holds 9 key dates and a list of the 6 source documents with what each one is for.

Download the matrix (Excel) 18 KB

Ten rows from the matrix

ID	Source document	Page / section	Requirement (buyer's words)	Type	Weighting	Evidence required
R002	Find a Tender notice 108226-2026	field tender.lots.0.selectionCriteria	Must be able to cover Windows, IOS , and Android mobile end point.	Mandatory		Selection criterion (condition of participation). Not repeated in the ITT or PSQ.
R004	Find a Tender notice 108226-2026	field tender.lots.0.awardCriteria.criteria.1	Functionality matched against the specification	Scored	40%	Not specified. The only specification published is PSQ section 2.4.
R008	Find a Tender notice 108226-2026	field tender.lots.0.awardCriteria.criteria.5	Social Value	Scored	5%	Pledges as set out in the Social Value Initiative document (see R085).
R014	Invitation To Tender Managed Detection and Response (MDR) Service	p.2	CHS's Primary Contact must receive tender responses at the address detailed by key date 9th December 2026.	Mandatory		Complete response to Tenders@chsgroup.org.uk
R016	Invitation To Tender Managed Detection and Response (MDR) Service	p.2	Tenderers must complete the following documents ... Non-Collusion Declaration Form	Mandatory		Signed Non-Collusion Certificate (provided)
R021	Invitation To Tender Managed Detection and Response (MDR) Service	p.3	assessed using the weighted quality and capability questions and the price bid by Tenderers, subject to passing any minimum quality scores	Mandatory		Minimum quality scores and the quality questions are not published. Ask the buyer.
R026	Invitation To Tender Managed Detection and Response (MDR) Service	p.5	The form of declaration is the Non-Collusion Certificate and must be signed and returned as an original hard copy with their tender response.	Mandatory		Original signed hard copy (no postal address given). Ask whether a signed PDF is acceptable.
R031	New Procurement Specific Questionnaire Managed Detection and Response (MDR) Service	p.1	Please return this form not later than 23:59 on 9th December 2026	Mandatory		PSQ emailed to Tenders@chsgroup.org.uk
R034	New Procurement Specific Questionnaire Managed Detection and Response (MDR) Service	p.3	24/7 Security Operations Centre (SOC) monitoring and response	Mandatory		Scope item (PSQ 2.4). PSQ 2.3: bidders must be able to provide all requirements.
R076	New Procurement Specific Questionnaire Managed Detection and Response (MDR) Service	p.8	Please provide details of three reference contracts ... in the last three years that are relevant to CHS's requirement. ... any negative references will disqualify your bid submission in entirety.	Mandatory		PSQ 10.1, per reference: customer, website, contact, phone, email, dates awarded and completed, value, description, relevance. Referees must be willing to speak to CHS.

Rows quoted from the Find a Tender notice cite the notice field they came from. The requirement column is the buyer's text, quoted as written, including the buyer's own spelling.

The sample compliance matrix open as a spreadsheet, showing all ten columns: ID, source document, page or section, requirement in the buyer's words, mandatory or scored, question reference, weighting, word or page limit, evidence required and deadline. — The matrix as it opens in a spreadsheet, first 29 rows.

One-page bid brief

One page: scope, value and key dates, 6 pass or fail conditions, how the bid is scored, 5 risks, an effort estimate, a bid or no-bid view and 6 clarification questions for the buyer. Facts come from the tender documents. The risks, the effort estimate and the bid or no-bid view are our judgement, and the brief says so.

Download the brief (PDF) 290 KB
Download the brief (Word) 38 KB

The one-page bid brief for the managed detection and response tender: scope, value and key dates table, eligibility and pass or fail conditions, scoring, risks, estimated effort, the bid or no-bid view and clarification questions. — The brief, exactly as delivered. Select it to open at full size.

Bid or no-bid view: Bid, if you pass the gates

Reserved for SMEs and VCSEs, below-threshold open procedure, simple PSQ: the competition is limited to firms like yours.
Bid only if you (or a named SOC partner) already run 24/7 MDR with Microsoft 365/Entra integration and Windows, iOS and Android coverage, and have three MDR references from the last three years.
Quality is 70% of the score, so a well-evidenced capability answer can beat a lower price.
No-bid if you cannot meet the insurance levels or show financial viability: both disqualify outright.

Clarification questions for the buyer

No quality questions, scoring scale, minimum score or word limits are published. How will responses be evaluated against each notice criterion?
No pricing schedule is published. In what format and on what basis (annual, per user or endpoint, 3-year total) should price be given, and how many users, endpoints and servers are in scope?
The Form of Tender (ITT p.2) is not published. Please provide it, and say what 'Other documentation' should include.
Please provide the full contract terms bidders must accept (ITT p.5).
The notice says electronic submission is not allowed, but the ITT asks for email. Which is correct, and is a signed PDF Non-Collusion Certificate acceptable instead of an original hard copy?
Does the £140,000 value cover 36 months only, or include the extensions? What minimum data protection indemnity cover is required (PSQ 9.2)? When is 'key date 5'?

Clarifications close 27 November 2026, 17:00 (ITT p.3)

Answer outline

6 sections, one for each scored criterion. Each gives what the evaluator is scoring, a suggested structure, the evidence to include and the limit. This buyer published no questions, scoring scale or word limits, and the outline says so for each criterion.

Download the outline (PDF) 307 KB
Download the outline (Word) 38 KB

The six sections

Functionality matched against the specification40%
Degree of future-proof capability10%
Consultancy Support7.5%
Implementation and Mobilisation7.5%
Price30%
Social Value5%

Weightings: Find a Tender notice 108226-2026, award criteria

From the first section: Functionality matched against the specification (40%)

What the evaluator is scoring: How fully the service meets the specification. The only specification published is the PSQ 2.4 scope list (17 items, matrix R034 to R050) plus 12 requested details (R051 to R056). No question or scoring scale is published, so ask the buyer.

Suggested structure

Opening summary: the service in one paragraph, mapped to CHS's scope.
Compliance table: each of the 17 scope items, how you deliver it, with which tool and team.
Operating model and the split of responsibilities between CHS and you (detail 1).
Technology stack; Microsoft 365 and Entra ID integration (details 2, 3); Windows, iOS and Android endpoint coverage (selection criterion).
Detection, hunting, containment and incident response, including major incidents (details 4, 5).
SOC model and locations; data processing, retention and residency (details 6, 8).
Severity levels, response times and service levels; reporting and dashboards (details 9, 10).

Evidence to include

Severity and service level table with response and containment times
Anonymised sample monthly report or dashboard
Certifications and independent assurance actually held (detail 7)
Short case study from a housing, public or third sector client

First page of the answer outline: sections for functionality matched against the specification (40%), degree of future-proof capability (10%) and consultancy support (7.5%), each with what the evaluator is scoring, a suggested structure and evidence to include. — Page 1 of 2. Select it to open at full size.

What the automated checks said about this pack

The pack passed its checks with no failures and no warnings: each quote was found at the page it cites, and each weighting, question number, word limit and named form the checks found in the six documents has a row in the matrix. Two items were set aside with a recorded reason: a paragraph the notice repeats from the invitation to tender, and a reference to an Act of Parliament that is not a tender document.

We then planted seven errors to test the checks themselves: an invented quote, a wrong page, a wrong weighting, a dropped criterion, a page no row cited, a dropped certificate row and a location that does not exist. The checks caught all seven.

A pass does not prove the matrix is complete. No automated check can. That is why the pack tells you to read it against the tender, and why a scored question, a pass or fail requirement or a required form that is missing from our matrix is added within one working day.

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Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: Find a Tender service (find-tender.service.gov.uk). Quotations from the tender documents are the buyer's text.